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TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that JAMES B. EUSTIS, of the city of New Orleans, parish of Orleans, and State of Louisiana, have invented a certain new, useful, and improved Change-Box for use in horse cars on street railroads, omnibuses, or other public conveyances; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clca.r, and exact description of the same, reference being` had to the annexed drawings, making part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is4 a side elevation of my invention, showing its position inside the car ready to receive the money to he changed; and v Y Figure 2, a perspective view ot' it when outside the car, or in position for the driver to take out the money and put in the change.

In the city of New Orleans none of the street cars upon any of the roads have conductors, or any other attendant save the driver. The fare is deposited by the passengers themselves in a fare-box especially constructed for the purpose, and attached to thc front end of the ear, inside the same, on the right-hand side of the door. Upon all the roads the regulation is rigidly enforced that undcr no circumstances is the driver to receive or deposit a fare; the invariable requirement being, under penalty of dismissal if the driver disobey it, that the exact change be given back to the passenger, who himself, as I have before stated, deposits the fare in the fare-box. Under this system of' management each passenger is put upon his honor to'pay his fare, besides being exposed to the observation of every other passenger in the car; and experience has already abundantly demonstrated that very few persons fail to make the required deposits. Hence, it is clear that, whilst the system eifectually guards against dishonesty on the part of the driver, by the inhibition as to his receiving'or depositing a fare, it also saves to the owners of the railroads an amount equal to the cost of employing conductors, and, it' we suppose occasional dishonesty on the part of the conductors, (by no means an nnreasonble presumption in view of the opportunities possessed by them of appropriating a part oi their receipts without much risk of detectioin) the saving goes far beyond the mere wages paid to the additional employees. But, whilst the benefits thus brieiiy pointed out, resultingirom the system practised in New Orleans, are so manifest and important to the proprietors ofthe roads, the passengers, whose convenience or business requires them to travel in the cars, are

' Asubjected to infinite discomfort and annoyance, and sometimes to severe penalties in the shape of colds and rheumatic or neuralgic attacks, in consequence of the necessity which `obtains of frequently opening the front door in order that passengers, who cannot else pay their fares, may communicate with the driver and procure from him the requisite small change. The opening of the door, as often as it is repeated, necessarily causes a draught of air or wind to rush through the car, and, if the weather is cold or wot, it is scarcely possible to describe the positive suffering indicted upon the passengers, even although, which is not always the ease, they escape a thorough wetting from the rain that is driven into the car bylsuch draught, or a subsequentspell of sickness. The reliection leading to the fabrication of my invention was induced mainly by my own suffering from this cause whilst riding in one of the street cars on an inclement day last winter, and hence I speak on the subject with all the authority derived from personal and painful experience. Nor are the passengers the only victims. The imposition upon the driver of the extra-duty of opening the door whenever a passenger needs change to pay his' fare obliges him frequently to neglect his regular and legitimate duty, and thus gives occasion to the numberless accidents that occur from collisions with other vehicles, as well as to the occasional running over and killing of unfortunate pedestrians, who, from intirmity, age, the heedlessness of childhood, or other causes, fail to perceive or to get out of thcw'ay of the ncar. It is simply impossible for the driver to give that constant and vigilant attention to his animals and the way before him that is necessary to prevent accidents,` when at frequently-recurring intervals he is compelled to turn himself around and open the door to make change for a passenger, and then to shut the door again after performing that duty, especially if, as often happens, the door is diiicult to open and shut. This fact is so palpable, and the consequent accidents have been so numer ous, that the policy ot' forcing the owners of al1 city railroads by law to employ conductors has been earnestly advocated by the press of the' city as well as by prominent members of the State Legislature, now in sessioni A bill was, in fact, recently introduced into the Legislature to that eii'ect, and only failed of becoming `a law, I

have reason to believe, because it was hoped some other remedy might be devised that would not entail so heavy a loss upon the roads.

My invention provides a means of remedying all the evils to which I have adverted, as well as others of less magnitude that I have not deemed it necessary to specify, which is at once economic, of easy application, and thorough eiiiciency; and it consists of a simple oscillating box or cup, of triangular conformation in its general outlines, placed in the stile of the car door, just over the handle or lock of the door, and so arranged as to enable a passenger, through its agency, to convey to the driver the money he wishes to be changed without the door being opened, and the driver to receive the money and give back the change without opening the door7 turning round, or withdrawing his attention for an instant from his animal or the street before him.

But my invention will be more clearly understood by reference to the drawings, in which A represents a section of the front stile of the door oi' a car, ,cut from the same just above the lock or handle of the door. B B are metallic plates, in which openings are'provided large enough to receive the oscillating box. Near the lower end of one ot' these plates, and on the sides next the opening into which the box is inserted, are two anches, a, (see dotted line, fig. 1,) projecting inwardly at right angles to the plane of the plate. These hanches furnish a support for the box C independent of all other instrumentalitics for such purpose, for, it will be seen, they serve as journals for the axis of said box. I am thus enabled to apply my invention ready for operation to the door of a car by simply cutting :tn-opening suiiicientiy largo lto admit ot' its introduction therein. The oscillating box is open at its top, which is rounding in the line of its oscillation, presenting, in fact, the exact curve of a circle drawn from the centre of its 'axis of oscillation at In, tig. l. This curvilinear formation permits a free oscillation of the box within the limit oi' its width in the line of motion, and yet preserves a close contact between its upper edges and the edges'oi' the metallic plates B B, whatever may be its position in relation to the stile in which it is inserted. Upon the two sides of the box, transverse to its line of motion, are attached two small metallic plates, d cl, which, extending slightly above the upper edge of these sides, and overlapping the plates B B, serve to prevent the oscillation of the box beyond fixed limits, and to hold it in proper position whether it be in or outside the car, and at the same time to completely close the opening through which it oscillates, and thus prevent any draught of air through said opening. A convenient and suitable size for the box C is, in my opinion, about three inches deep, and two inches wide in one direction, and three or three and a halt` inches in the other; but it may obviously bo made larger or'smaller if found desirable, without accting its principle or mode of operation. Its interior vconfiguration in the line of its oscilla- -tion should be curved, so as to avoid ditliculty in withdrawing the moncj;T or change that has been put into it. The dotted line e, hg. 1, shows thc internal confirmation .l have at present adopted as the best that has occurred to me. Outside the door of the car, and placed `just above the box C, is a bell, D, which gives alternate warning to the driver and passenger that change is wanting, and that it has been supplied. In the drawing this bell is provided with an elongated clapper, which, descending a little below the upper edge ofthe box, is struck thereby whenever the box is thrown or pushed from the interior to the exterior of the ear, or vice versa; but in the actual application of my invention to use, a better arrangement would be to have the bell, or axgong instead of a bell, struck externally by a hammer connected with a spring, to which action should be imparted by the oscillation of the box in either direction. Any mechanic of ordinary skill would be able to make the sub- VYstitution without further description.

In applying my ehange-box" to a car it is only necessary to cut an opening large enough to receive it through thedoor stile, and, inserting the box within the opening, to attach it by means of the plates? B with ordinary screws, The plates B B cover up the edges of the opening, and, concealing any roughness or irregw larity therein, present a symmetrical and handsome facing and finish ou both sides oi' the door.

The operation of my invention is very simple and of easy comprehension. Its normal position is as shown at tig. 1, that is to say, with the box inclining upon its axis inside the car. A passenger enters the our, who, unprovided with the exact fare, must obtain change from the driver. Instead of communicating with him by causing the door to be opened, he does so, without speaking a word, through the medium of the box. In other words, he puts the bill he wishes changed into the box C, and then pushes the box outside the door. In its oscillation or translation from the inside to the outside the box sounds the bell or gong, and the driver, knowing what is wanted, as well as the exact situation of the box, without looking around puts his hand behind him, takes out the money, makes the change, puts it into the box, and pushes the bor; inside the car. If the driver find it inconvenient, or object from any other cause to putting his hand behind him for the money, or to deliver the change, he has only to step one step backwards in order to bring his back against the front of the car and the box at his left side, and then to accomplish his object, stili without looking or turning around, or in anywisc neglecting his special duty as driver. n returning to its normal position inside the cnr, the box again sounds the bell to indicate change has been supplied. The passenger takes the change out of the box, deposits his fare in the fare-box, and the operation is concluded as silentlv ls it begun. The next passenger who ,requires change proceeds in precisely' the same way as the vlirst, and so on every succeeding passenger needing change ad e'niztu-m.

My invention was suggested by and designedchieiiy to remedy the evils arising out of the necessity oi" opening the car doors, however disagreeable the weather', whenever a passenger needs change; but it is self-evidentits use will be exceedingly advantageous even when the door is open, because it relieves the driver of all necessity of turning around, or of neglecting his regular duty, for it is plain that the driver may put his hand back and take out a bill from the box, and afterwards place the change in it; or if he does not want-to put his hand back, that he may step back and bring the box at his side, and in this way accompiish his object without looking back'just as easily wnen thedoor is open as when it is shut. lt will be observed that when the box .is either inside or outside the car it cannot be opened from the opposite side, in consequence ci' the close tting of the i i i parts and `the absence otl any knob or other appliance that the hand may seize hold upon. The object of this arrangement is to prevent the confusion or disputation that might arise if a, second passenger needing change could deposit his money in the box before the first passenger receives his change or, in other words, to secure the conclusion of one opera-tion before the inauguration of another, and thus to avoid all possible contingency of conliict between passengers in relation to the money or the amount thereof respectively deposited by them in the box to be changed by the driver. My invention, although especially intended for and adapted to street cars, may 'with equal facility and advantage be applied to olnnibuses in which fare-boxes are used, or the -drivers are the recipients of the fare.

Having thus described uiy invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The oscillating box C, pivoted at its ends in the flanges of plates B B, substantially as and for the pur- `pose set forth.

2. The oseillating box C, pivoted at its ends in plates B B, in combination with bell D, or its equivalent, arranged and operating substantially as described for the purpose set forth.

JAMES'B. EUSTIS.

Witnesses:

DUNCAN G. CAMPBELL,

Runes R. RHODES. 

